In certain industries, animals are necessarily contained in ventilated or unventilated housings, cages or other shelters so that researchers can study the animal's condition due to disease, drug studies, genetic changes, etc. It is important in some industries, such as the biomedical industry, that protocols be strictly adhered to. This is one reason why it is necessary to contain animals that are subjected to research. Any variation through outside factors, including environmental threats, must be accounted for and will sometimes require repeating of a research experiment. This replication increases the cost of the experiment, both in animal waste and labor inefficiencies that can be deducted from the cost of the research grant.
Often, the animals used are extremely valuable because of their genetic makeup and the length of time required to bring the animal to the point of the protocol definition. Some research animals can be worth several hundred thousand dollars each. Thus, it is not only necessary to preserve the research animal's quality of life for humane reasons, it is necessary for economic reasons as well as required by government regulations. Only a certain amount of money is available for AIDS research, cancer research and the like, and it must be used responsibly.
Part of using research money responsibly is in treating research animals responsibly. Contained animals need clean bedding and a clean source of food and drinking water at all times. This preserves the animal's health and removes factors that can vary research results. It is generally unsanitary to simply provide animals with food and water dishes because some animals will indiscriminately urinate or defecate in the dish before eating or drinking from it. Therefore, it is typical to provide drinking water to research animals through food containers, water bottles or automatic watering systems that do not require dishes. These systems typically consist of receptacles, valves or lick spouts that supply each shelter.
Though there is a growing demand for improved animal housing, there is also a shortage of labor to maintain the protocol required for housing conditions. Unfortunately, not all animals are under constant human surveillance. Sometimes, the water bottles or automatic watering systems fail and flooding of the animal's shelter occurs within minutes. When this happens, the shelter can fill with water to the point where the animal becomes hypothermic or drowns. This type of occurrence not only has inhumane results, but can be devastating for the outcome of the research project. Literally millions of research dollars can be wasted along with the animal's life.
While there exists various types of apparatuses for animals to reside and play on in confined spaces, such as suspended tubes or swings, these prior devices are not adequate for escaping flood or unsanitary bedding conditions within the shelter. For instance, tubes are restrictive in that they do not allow that animal to move about in the same manner as they move when on the floor of the shelter. Such devices are simply too small for the animal to comfortably reside in for extended periods of time. Furthermore, tubes are hard to clean and cannot be stacked when in storage.
Thus, there is a need for an article that can allow a contained animal to remove itself from the dangers of unsanitary cage conditions such as hypothermia or drowning in the case of a watering system failure, and even improve the quality of life for a contained animal.